Monday, April 30, 2012

Our lives are often so consumed by so many things: taking Johnny to soccer practice and Susie to ballet, making meals, working another eight hours (if we’re lucky), and trying to balance that bank account that always seems a little less full than we’d like it to be.

With so much going on, we sometimes overlook the little things that really fill our lives with meaning. What really matters is a gentle touch from a friend, a phone call from a sister, the smell of a lilac tree, and those little reminders that the Lord loves us and is watching over us individually.

Once in a while it is nice to just sit back and contemplate those delightful gems of life. This book is a collection of 50 of those simple things that others have found bring a joy to their life. Their experiences and stories are simple, inspiring, and thoughtful. Take a minute out of your hectic schedule to remember—or even discover—a few of those small and powerful aspects of your life.

As the time draws near for the first spirits to leave their home in heaven, a group of rebellious dissenters begins to appear at every blue-planet planning meeting, demanding that all mortals are ruled by compulsory choice, instead of having the freedom to choose for themselves. Daniel is a courageous Freedom Fighter who vehemently opposes the No Choice movement. Sophie is impressed by his strong desire to do what’s right . . . and by his intense blue eyes. But she also has a strange attraction to the handsome and ostentatious Coe, a leader of the No Choice movement, who has his sights on her and will stop at nothing to claim her as his own.

It is 148 BC, and the city of Nephi is ruled by the wicked King Noah and his corrupt priests. Zephenia’s father has turned to his drink after the death of her mother, and her younger sister Sari dreams of living in the king’s palace. When the family’s hut is destroyed and the sisters are unjustly

imprisoned, Zephenia wonders if God has forgotten her. If they survive their tribulations, whom will her father choose as her husband? The only unmarried believer she knows is Gideon, and he is smitten with Sari.

Zephenia’s thoughts keep drifting to Alma, the handsome high priest she met while gathering herbs in the jungle. She senses a goodness about him, yet because he is a priest in Noah’s court, she knows he couldn’t possibly be a righteous man. But when the prophet Abinadi is martyred and Zephenia must decide between her faith and her family, she learns of a mighty change that has happened in Alma’s heart.